The last Naxos Gigli
CD I reviewed
was Volume 5 (New York 1927-38, 8.110266),
which included multiple versions of
the same piece for ease of comparison.
No multiple versions here. The sides
are presented in the order in which
they were recorded. This is a remastering
of Obert-Thorn's own Romophone transfers.

Caught at the height
of his powers, as here, Gigli was magnificent,
his voice strong but always rounded,
sometimes beautifully 'honeyed'. Perhaps
the Giordano Chenier excerpt
is not the most exciting beginning to
the disc, but there is no doubting Gigli's
supreme confidence. It is good to report
that Gigli just avoids sobbing
in the Cavalleria 'Mamma'; who
is the uncredited woman here, at 2'35?

Gigli's take on Handel
and Gluck is, shall we say, of its time.
From the opening of 'Frondi tenere'
(leading in to 'Ombra mai fù'),
there is no way one could guess this
is Handel. Similarly, the strings just
before Gigli's entrance at the aria
proper move slowly and sluggishly, like
so much lava. The music is here very
much at the service of Gigli rather
than the other way around. Similarly
the Gluck Paride excerpt is unrecognisable
as early music, although it is touching
in its own right.

After the Handel -
the Gluck comes much later in the programme
- the 'Pagliacci non son!' is a positive
homecoming, with Gigli completely at
one with the role. He convinces here
just as much as he does in the magnificent
'Una furtiva lagrima', where legato
is simply jaw-dropping, the high register
unbelievably beautiful and where a superbly
managed crescendo on a single note (just
before the vocal 'cadenza') is a model
of its kind. A word of praise here for
the orchestra also, especially the solo
bassoon - the introduction to this aria
is long.

The programming of
this disc works extremely well, particularly
between the dark Tosca ('E lucevan
le stelle') and the extrovert 'La donna
è mobile'. These tracks were
recorded on the same day (March 26th,
1934), but it almost sounds like a different
singer is used for each!

The Carmen excerpt
is, as is to be expected, sung in Italian,
but if you are not allergic to that
there is supreme legato on display here.

Of course there are
songs interspersed in this programme,
a genre in which Gigli excelled. Sometimes
there seems to be too much of an (initially)
good thing  4'17 is too long in the
case of Santa Lucia, for example.
But listen to the way Gigli makes the
old pot-boiler 'O sole mio' come up
fresh, full of lyrical charm as opposed
to a wanton belting-out; similarly,
'Torna a Sorriento' could so easily
be corny, but there is not a trace of
that here.

Negatives? One hearing
of the Schubert/Melichar is one too
many for me, but one negative track
out of 22 is not bad. And the track
that impresses the most? The tender
and gorgeous Massenet Elégie(sung
in appealingly nasal French). I immediately
listened again!

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